Goats to Graze at O'Hare

Looking to hire 30 goats and one herder

ShareTweetEmail

The Chicago Department of Aviation is looking to hire 30 goats and one herder to help mow the grass at O’Hare International Airport. The goats will be tasked with eating grass outside the security fence in hard-to-mow areas. In addition to their mobility, the goats will produce less pollution than mechanical mowers, says the department’s point person for sustainability. San Francisco has been using goats to graze on grass for years, and Atlanta is testing a similar project.

Lawsuit Delays Christo Arkansas Project

Judge orders halt to work

A federal judge has temporarily blocked construction on Bulgarian-born artist Christo's Arkansas River installation pending the outcome of a lawsuit challenging it. The project calls for nearly six miles of fabric to be hung over a section of the Arkansas River between Canon City and Salida, Colorado. In February, Rags Over the River, a group that opposes the installation, sued the BLM to block it. On Wednesday, Judge John Kane ordered that work not proceed until the suit is decided. He also allowed Christo's Over the River Corporation, which is overseeing construction on the work, to join the BLM as a defendent in order to protect the artist's interests.

0 Comments

Death Valley Named Hottest Place

Title stripped from Libya

Ninety-nine years after the fact, Death Valley, California, has been handed the title of hottest place on earth: 134 degrees Fahrenheit on July 10, 1913. Until this week, the record belonged to El Aziza, Libya, which supposedly reached 136 degrees on September 13, 1922. However, after a comprehensive study by 13 atmospheric scientists on behalf of the World Meteorological Organization, the Libyan record was revealed to be incorrect. “When we compared observations to surrounding areas and to other measurements made before and after the 1922 reading,” said Randy Cerveny, the study’s leader, “they simply didn’t match up.” In addition to being an outlying result, the study also found that the temperature was recorded with an outdated instrument and by an inexperienced observer.

0 Comments

WTC Ends NYC Ironman

News in wake of sewage leak and swim death

Organizers of the Ironman U.S. Championship announced Friday that the triathlon will not return to New York City next year. This year, a sewage leak dumped millions of gallons of raw human waste into the Hudson and threatened to kill the swim portion. Although cancellation proved unnecessary, a 43-year-old athlete died after "experiencing distress" in the water. The following day, the World Triathlon Corporation announced a hike to the relatively high entry fee: $1,200 for 2013, up from $900 in 2012. In a statement, the organization said that transportation and spectator access contributed to their decision.